Why are so many fixated on illegal immigrantion from Mexico into the United States?

Question

I'm from Canada, and would like to know why so many people on here are obsessed with illegal immigration from Mexico into the United States. Are there several political campaigns against it in the US? Does the media cover the issue frequently? When did this become such a huge issue in the US (or is it only on here)? I'm curious, and would like to know what the issue is really like in the US or if it's blown out of proportion on Yahoo!Answers.

Thank you.

Answer 1

I'm not obsessed with the Mexicans, but I am really concerned about the Mexican border. I think all illegals, regardless of origin, should be deported. The southern half of our border is porous, millions of people get through every year. Nameless, faceless people who could be here to do anything. We catch the people coming in through Canada, because we have cooperation with Canada. We also share more of a border with Canada. With Mexico we don't have as much cooperation, in fact not cooperating with us is their second largest source of income(money sent home by illegals). We can catch the few people that come through Canada, why the heck can't anyone catch the millions that go through Mexico. It seems absurd!
I would say the media does cover it quite a bit, each in their own biased way. I hear about it from most media sources I use daily(broadcasting and newspapers mostly). There are campaigns for it and against it, and this is common. 14% of American voters that were polled said they would vote this issue as their number one issue(it did not specify whether they were for or against an amnesty or any other issue). It's always been an issue, especially after 9/11, when most Americans realized just how much of the world really hates us. But it became a bigger issue after millions of illegals marched in our streets, and after breaking our laws, demanded to influence the same laws they broke and touted their loyalty to their home countries. I'm sure if they had not done that, they would have had their amnesty, or something like it. But, yes, I would say it is a big issue, for alot of reasons. I hope this helps.

Answer 2

This issue is just finally coming to light! Illegal immigration into the US is out of control and has been for many years. The numbers at first weren't sending alarms, but now, especially in California, Arizona, and Texas where jobs are abundant, the results are overwhelming. Our school systems are being required (as a result of the language barrier) to train teachers Spanish. Our hospitals are overrun with Mexicans (illegals) seeking healthcare. Who pays for all of this? We the taxpayers do. Our quality of healthcare, our educational system curriculums, and our quality of life in general has diminished. Illegal immigrants have taken over complete neighborhoods in many cities. To immediately seal the border would begin the healing process - then we could deal with the ones who are here in some humane way. As an American, I can say that I am fed up with the situation. How would you feel if millions of Americans came to live in Canada without being legal citizens?

Answer 3

40+ tunnels running under the border have recently been discovered. Millions of people choose to illegally enter/invade, rather than first trying to apply legally. US border patrol agents have caught people from many different countries trying to enter illegally.
Every year, crimes committed by illegals increases.
Public schools are over crowded.
Tax funded Social programs are broke.
Gangs keep growing. Drugs keep flowing.
Prisons are over flowing with illegals.
Hospitals are constantly over crowded, most illegals aren't insured.
Traffic is a debacle.
The economy cannot create millions and millions of new jobs every year.

US citizens have to solve all these problems. Most illegals take no responsibility and care only about themselves.
It has been 20 years since amnesty was granted and still hundreds of thousands have yet to file the necessary paper work.? They've had 20 years. They don't want to follow the law, but they expect there to be jobs, housing, schools, transportation, medical, etc.

All we ask is for people to immigrate legally. It's not that much to ask and it's not that difficult to do.

Answer 4

It became such an issue when the illegal immigrants protested in our streets demanding "their rights" and disrespecting our flag! Sadly the American media does not give an accurate depiction of the harm they are causing in the US - a good example of this is calling them "undocumented workers" and not illegal immigrants or criminals! There is such opposition because the illegals work for less money than it takes to live in the US - they are able to do this because middle-class Americans are picking up the tab (thru our tax dollars) for their very existence at the expense of life, as we know it! The illegals are getting free health care, free schools, free food, free housing, they ignore our laws and are not being held accountable. It is not blown out of proportion, I can see civil war in America if our government gives them amnesty!

Answer 5

The funny thing is, most of the illegal aliens aren't even from Mexico. They come THRU Mexico, but that doesn't make them Mexicans. There are a large number of Salvadorans, Guatamalans, Ecuadorians, Peruvians, Brazilians, Etc....... Yes it is a big deal. In the past 10 yrs it has become a huge issue. Are they taking American jobs? How many Americans want to wash dishes, clean up peoples yards, do the dirty work so to speak? Most of the ones I've come across aren't college educated and are here to send money back to there families. There are certain industries that would really be hurt by crackdowns on illegals. The number one would definitely be the food industry. Say good bye to most of your favorite restaurants because that is the majority of their labor pool. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of solutions we come up with and what effects they have on the economy. Barron's did an article maybe a year ago that talked about the hidden economy. So no I don't think it's blown out of proportion, just clouded by racism and misunderstanding.

Answer 6

The problem has not been blown out of proportion. It is a very big problem here, overcrowding is causing a rise in almost everything from housing to gas prices and everything in between. Most of our prisons are full of illegal immigrants. They get so many government handouts that even us Americans can't get and we pay the taxes. They are depleting the US. Crime has went up and resources are deleted. This doesn't even feel like the United States anymore.

Answer 7

The problem is twofold: 1) the way our social and legal systems are set up, illegal immigrants enjoy all of the benefits of living in the US without any of the responsibility (they can't pay taxes even if they wanted to), and 2) there are so many people coming north that it is causing major problems with unemployment and putting a serious strain on our welfare systems and our hospitals.
We are a hospitable people. We have no problem with immigration and recognize that nearly ALL of our ancestors came here from somewhere else. But we have systems in place to control immigration, and our Mexican neighbors are circumventing those controls to our great expense.

Answer 8

Have you ever been to a Mexican border town, like San Diego or El Paso, or Laredo Texas? Have you ever seen how these people live? How many they pile into one house, or cars driving down the street with 10 people in them? When you do, you will have the answer to this question.

The issue is they want their cake and eat it too. They live in the US and use the services like police, fire, health but do not pay into the system. When confronted, they head for the border. On border towns it's really bad. El Paso for example they live in Mexico but hold jobs here. What is wrong with that you ask, well schools are overcrowded because they are built on the premiss that x number of kids live in a geograhic area. With an extra 100 show up it complicates things. They are not required to have Auto insurance. So when they hit and total your car, they simply walk back across the border. Your rates end up rising. When you want to go to the hospital, you can't because it's full of hundreds of people who made it across the border for quality health care.

Now...Imagine if all 11 million were accounted for and paying into our system of government.

Answer 9

Well, if you have not noticed, we are having a problem with Mexican Citizens crossing into this country illegally, setting up residence, not paying taxes, sending the money back to Mexico to fund their economy, using public services that they are not paying taxes to fund, not learning English to become good citizens, inciting hatred against the country they are in, and generally abusing the areas they are living in.

Why is that so bad? BECAUSE THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT IS ENCOURAGING THEM TO DO THIS!

I don't see the Canadian government encouraging your citizen to invade the US.

This is not a blown out of proportion issue, it is very real.

Answer 10

It came to a head when the Illegals took to the street waving their flags saying they wanted rights . They are here to make America pay for their failures as a country. We are tired of being used. They are sent here to change American policy. They are overloading our education,legal, and social systems.